Special report Who is picking our food?

In a major investigation the Ecologist reports on the hidden stories behind those harvesting the fruit and vegetables - and other staples - we eat everyday, both in the UK and internationally

Over the past year the Ecologist has been investigating conditions for some of the thousands of workers picking some of our most popular foods.

Our reporting has taken us from Kent, Sussex and East Anglia in the UK, to Italy, the US and Africa, and the Caribbean, amongst other locations, examining those at the bottom of supply chains that bring us salad, tomatoes, oranges, bananas, nuts, tea and other staples.

Our unique and groundbreaking investigations have uncovered vast exploitation - including the sexual abuse of woman - shocking health impacts for workers exposed to dangerous chemicals, and the disturbing use of child labour, amongst a range of other abuses.

We've also looked at what can be done to improve the sustainability of supply chains, met the teenagers fighting back against the might of US agribusiness, and toured the UK salad 'mega-farm' that's pioneering a new approach to employing migrant workers, asking whether this the future for industrial horticulture.

This is an ongoing project and further special reports, news and analysis will be published during 2012.

Andrew Wasley & Gianluca Martelliano report from southern Italy on the plight of Europe's 'tomato slaves', uncovering how exploitation and squalor blight the lives of migrant workers harvesting tomatoes that end up on dinner plates across Europe - including the UK

Barry Estabrook investigates the shocking cost of the industrial tomato sector's love affair with toxic chemicals - revealing how in the US serious birth defects have been linked to pesticide exposure suffered by female tomato pickers